AC Hotel to open with 110 Grill in March

When the AC Hotel opens in downtown Worcester in March, it will include the newest location from the rapidly expanding 110 Grill chain.

The restaurant will include a 50-seat outdoor patio with a fire pit on Front Street, and a 6,000-square-foot interior with 180 seats and a large centerpiece U-shaped bar.

By the time the Worcester restaurant opens, it will be the Westford company's 14th location since it took over the original Chelmsford restaurant in 2014. The restaurant has plans to add another new location each month for the next year and a half, including Upstate New York locations near Albany, Buffalo and Rochester, said Ryan Dion, 110 Grill's chief operating officer.

The chain had been looking at Worcester before choosing the new hotel site, Dion said. Several other 110 Grill locations are in close proximity to hotels for a reliable customer base. The restaurant saw a particular need in downtown Worcester, he said.

"The Front Street area is under-served with restaurants," Dion said Wednesday, finding a need in particular for lunch and dinner options for those working in the neighborhood.

The restaurant will be connected through a common hallway with the 170-room AC Hotel, a Marriott property slated to open at about the same time.

The Worcester location will be the latest in a fast-growing list for 110 Grill, which part of RA Ventures, a company that also owns East Coast Electrical Contractors, Patriot Bank, several properties in Devens, including two hotels, and others. The company is also building the Apex Center on Route 20 in Marlborough, a 475,000-square-foot center with hotels, restaurants, office space and a sports and entertainment facility.

A 110 Grill location at Apex Center is scheduled to open Oct. 17.

The chain is also adding a Fall River location in November, a Stratham, N.H., location in December, and another in North Quabbin Commons off Route 2A in Athol in January. A Wrentham location is also planned to open next year.

Eight locations have opened across the area in recent years, in addition to the original Chelmsford location. They are in Berlin, Braintree, Chelmsford, Haverhill, Hopkinton, Leominster, Nashua, N.H., Rochester, N.H., and Wayland.

Dion attributed the success to 110 Grill's broad modern American menu and its staff.

"Our biggest asset is having great people, and it's also a great challenge to staff great people," Dion said. "We continue to find them and build our culture."